In The Middle Of The Night

It had been decided.

Trinity was going to sleep on the couch.

Sam was in Danny's room.

Danny chose to use a sleeping bag on the carpeted floor of the living room.

Tucker had gone home, but not before finding out the sleeping arrangements, or more specifically, Danny and Sam's sleeping arrangements. He left feeling disappointed that they wouldn't be in the same room; he would've had a field day if they were.

Somewhere between 2 and 3am, Trinity had slipped to the back door for a crafty smoke. She twiddled with the cigarette in her fingers and sighed. She'd always find it hard to sleep at night, especially when she was away from her older brother Ryan. Sure, she could get to sleep, but the problem was staying asleep.

Much like her aunt and uncle – Sam's parents – her brother was often away for months at a time. It drove her mad, it really did, but since their mom and dad had passed on, Trinity knew that Ryan would be the one who'd be playing for the 'away' team. It made sense, he was more of an age, but it left her alone in a ridiculously sized house that she once called 'home'.

Still, it was great having Sam around. The cold, bitter, emptiness of the soulless Clock House had dissolved a little when she was looking after her cousin.

Chilly night air caressed her topless flesh. She never slept fully dressed; her body simply didn't like it, usually she'd be in PJ bottoms and nothing else, so despite the fact this was another person's house, her nightly half nude tradition remained. Though, she always kept a tank top to hand – just in case.

Ashes flicked from the end of the cigarette and another exhalation of smog escaped her lips.

She heard something stirring in the kitchen. Arms crossed to cover the more delicate area of her chest; she stepped onto the cold laminate wood flooring and saw Danny rummaging in the fridge once more. Light beamed out from the ice box like a high-powered torch in the thick London fog. Did that boy ever stop eating?

With the tobacco stick stubbed out, Trinity closed the back door as quietly as possible, and snuck up behind Danny. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Aahh!"

He yelled, spun on his heel and almost immediately had a nosebleed.

"AHH!"

He yelled a bit louder. A few drops of blood hit the kitchen floor and Danny closed his eyes, hyper ventilating into his hands.

"Shh!" Trinity hushed. He kept his eyes shut tight. "Flamin' 'eck Dan, could you be any louder?"

The refrigerator door had closed itself, but even in the lack of light, she could easily see a huge patch of red streak across his face.

"Jeez, Trinity! Put a shirt on or something!" He hissed, voice cracking.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, you act like you've never seen a pair of boobs before!"

Trinity turned on the kitchen light while Danny was still covering his eyes, and quickly moved to her previous sleeping place to grab the tank top she'd removed once Danny had fallen asleep earlier. She slipped the top on and walked back into the kitchen, leaning on the counter near the sink.

"It's OK, I'm decent now…" she remarked.

It took the boy a few moments to trust what he'd just heard, and slowly opened his shocked eyes.

"Shy little bugger ain't ya?"

Danny remained silent, still red as a beacon.

"Sorry, I can't sleep with a lot of clothes on, and I guess British girls are less inhibited than what you're probably used to," she apologised. "I mean, you've obviously never seen breasts up close before, Sam would've told me if you had."

"You don't have to be sorry, just, try to wear something at night," Danny's nose began to drip red again. "My parents will be home from Texas in a couple of days, and if you happen to stay over again and walk around… like you do, I'll be doomed to a lecture about you know what…"

"Sex you mean?"

He shuddered at the thought of another 'sex chat' with his dad. It was a wonder that he was born at all considering how clueless Jack Fenton was regarding that subject. Trinity giggled, trying to recall her own innocent self and how embarrassed she used to get when the topic of sex was raised.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" Danny asked, desperately wanting to change the flow of conversation.

"Taking Sam home, getting settled in and just messin' about I guess," She smiled excitedly. "and then Monday I get to see an American high school!"

"It's not a big deal, it's probably just like an English school."

"Do you have to wear a uniform?"

"Uh, no but-"

"Do you leave school at 18?"

"Actually, we do."

"Fair enough," Trinity shrugged. "but do you get bundled every time you have to go up or down a flight of stairs?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Bundled, like getting smooshed against a load of other students during a rush to get to the next lesson on time?"

"No, but we do get shoved into lockers occasionally."

"In that case, it's nothing like a British school, we don't even have lockers," Her face fell drastically. "I left school five years ago, but it still haunts me. I got bullied, ran away from lessons, tried to run myself through a wall, got called a psycho so many times that I wasn't allowed to use anything remotely sharp by the end of year 9."

"Huh?"

"Oh, right, um... Year 9 is the equivalent to your 10th grade," Trinity looked upwards at nothing in particular. "this is my chance to see a side of High school I didn't get to see the first time."

"You really are looking forward to it aren't you?" Danny was rather astounded.

No one he knew enjoyed school, except for Jazz of course, or ever thought of Monday morning as a good thing. He himself despised it. To him, school was the break between fighting ghosts and sleeping, and even so, it wasn't much of a break seeing as he had Mr. Lancer and Dash Baxter to deal with.

If one of them wasn't torturing him, the other would try extra hard to make his life a living nightmare; sometimes it felt like a conspiracy. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"I can sense that school is something you can't wait to be free of…"

"We've both had bad experiences with it, mine just isn't over yet." Danny frowned.

"Well, come Monday we'll see if I can't tweak that a bit, eh?"

As she walked back to the living room to try and catch some zzz's before having to drive in a few hours, Danny thought about what Trinity had said and grinned. She may have come across as a nutty, exhibitionist who could sweet talk blood from a rock, but she had a good temperament and seemed very willing to help where she could.

She was a lot like Sam, she really was.

But Danny would soon see that Sam wasn't exactly the girl he remembered.


The next day, Danny and Tucker were sitting in their usual booth at the Nasty Burger. Tucker, as usual, was scarfing down a Mighty Meaty Cheesy Melt, while Danny silently nursed a large soda. He ran his index finger along the rim of the drink container and stared emptily at the paper straw, down into the half full container of fizzy liquid.

They were waiting for Sam and Trinity to finish their girly routine so they could all spend the morning hanging out. Trinity promised to have Sam back to her house just after midday, which only gave them a few hours of bonding time before school tomorrow.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Tucker asked.

Danny snapped his head up to see his friend finish off the large cheeseburger he bought barely five minutes ago.

"Why Sam cut her hair," he muttered. "and why she was wearing pink."

"People change Danny, even strict vegetarian individuals like Sam – maybe she did that stuff to freak you out," He added with a sly grin. "admit it dude, you like that she had her hair cut."

Tucker wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Danny smiled, a thin pink strip came up on his cheeks while he had another mouthful of soda.

"So… what did you and Sam get up to last night?"

"The only Manson I saw last night was Trinity," He said. "she was awake at 3 in the morning having another smoke by the back door."

"That is kinda bad, you know, the way she smokes like, all the time."

"I don't know much about her Tuck, but the little info I do have seems to justify the way she is." Danny explained.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

A wide, sneaky smile matched the devious gleam in his eyes. He leaned his weight onto the elbow he had rested on the table.

"Well, for one, Trinity Manson likes to sleep topless."

"Aw man, I knew I should've stayed over!" He whined regretfully.

I wonder if Sam does that too… Danny thought. His eyes completely glazed over and, with a long, almost lovesick sigh, watched the ceiling with a certain fascination. Cheeks turned scarlet and pupils dilated as some mildly perverted thoughts raided his mind.

"Whoa… whose closet did you get dressed in this morning?"

"Danny's, why?"

That should've been obvious from the shirt she was wearing. It was one of Danny's traditional red and white tee shirts that Sam had pulled up to her breasts and tied into a knot at the front.

"I hope those didn't come from Danny's closet." Tuck gestured to the tight black denim shorts and a pair of 5 inch heeled strappy slingback shoes.

"Ha, ha, Tucker. If you must know, I spilt foundation on my top this morning," Sam said in mock amusement as she noticed the vacant expression on Danny's face. "what's with him?"

"Oi, blue-eyes, wake up!" Trinity reached over and nudged him harshly. Danny seemed confused as he shook himself out of the dubious daydream he was just having.

He waved at them deliriously for a moment, but soon froze up again. The female of his two best friends was wearing one of his shirts and, let's face it, not much else. The gentle rise and fall of her chest would undoubtedly stretch the white material tied so tightly against it. He could also see the faint outline of her black bra…

"Danny, your nose is bleeding!" Sam shuffled into the seat next to him and handed over a clean, white hankie from the pocket of her hot pants.

"I'm gonna go get some noms, you guys want anything?" Trinity asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Tucker shook his head.

"Yes thanks, Trin, you know what I like," She smiled at her cousin as she walked away. "what are we gonna do with you Danny? You never used to bleed so much…"

"Yeah Danny, maybe you should get a few things off your chest…" muttered a very cheeky Tucker, glancing sideways to see the boy glare at him.

"Don't go there." He warned.

"Well, anyway, I hope you don't mind me using one of your shirts Danny-"

"That was my fault," All eyes looked to Trinity who had brought back the 'noms' she had gone to retrieve. "liquid foundation goes everywhere if you're not careful with it."

"She's got clumsy English hands." Sam laughed. Trinity sat next to Tucker and handed something to Sam.

"Oh, ha bloody ha! Very funny, Samantha," she teased. She knew her cousin absolutely loathed her first name being said out loud.

Sam took a bite out of the burger Trinity gave her and pulled a strange face.

"You did get the Mini Meaty Cheesy Melt, didn't you? You know I don't like the Mighty ones…"

Trinity nodded, taking a sip of her diet coke.

Danny suddenly woke up to a weird realisation and peered strangely at Sam. She lowered the meaty burger from her mouth and returned the odd gaze Danny was aiming at her.

"Um, Danny? You OK?"

"Sam! You're eating meat!" That certainly got Tucker's attention.

All his meat-loving life, Sam had given Tucker and any other carnivore a really hard time about 'eating the carcass of a poor innocent animal like it was going out of style', and yet here she was, doing the very thing she had protested against.

"So?" She was going to continue, until Danny placed his hand over hers, preventing her from lifting it.

"So, you're a vegetarian!"

"Oh, come on, Danny, salad is rabbit food, and rabbit food should be left to rabbits," Trinity interrupted.

A triumphant glance streaked through her emerald eyes. Somehow, she knew she'd win this little debate before it had even started.

"She has a point man." Tucker agreed.

"Exactly, I mean, why else would we have canine teeth?" Sam added.

Danny fell silent in defeat.

"Hey Sammy, who's that fit blonde bloke over there?"

"That's Dash, he's a quarterback." Sam recognised the look on Trinity's face and instantly knew what was coming.

"Oooh, like, as in American football?"

"Hang on, what about that guy from Graphics design? You did tell him you'd be in America by now, right?"

Trinity took out her smartphone and frantically typed a text message, sent it, then put her phone back in her bra.

"Yep, he knows," she giggled, stood up and ran a hand through her long black tresses. "So, if you'll excuse me…"

"Did she just dump her date over the phone?" Tuck whispered.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Sam replied, taking another bite of her cheeseburger. "that's the third boyfriend she's ditched in the last four months."

"So, if she gets with Dash, how long will it last?"

"At a rough guess… four days. Trinity is a man-eater."

Dash was, for once, sitting alone and eating frozen yoghurt, not in his usual football jacket, but a dark blue form-fitting t-shirt and jeans. Soon, he felt something leaning on him, or rather, a pair of something pressing against his back. He looked upwards, only to lock eyes with a black-haired girl he'd never seen before.

"Well, hello…" She seductively mumbled and bit her lower lip.

"Hello yourself." Dash flaunted his best lady-killer smile when Trinity sauntered into the seat next to him.

From just a few yards away, Sam, Danny and Tucker watched the Essex girl put on her best flirty performance. To be honest, it was rather sickening. Gently flicking her hair every so often and legs crossed so given the right angle you could see her skimpy undies, Trinity drew invisible circles on his hand with her finger.

"Hey, Tuck, bet you a score she gets his number." Sam offered with a sinister stare.

"What the hell is a score?"

"Y'know, a twenty," She explained. "sorry, British slang is still in my vocab."

Trinity's infectious giggle rang out. A few more moments of witty banter and Dash pulled her into his lap. The blonde boy scribbled something down onto a piece of paper and confidently placed it in her cleavage. More giggling. She kissed him on the cheek and got up to return to her cousin. Feeling positive, he quickly patted her backside.

"Can I throw up now?" Danny mumbled angrily.

Sam looked round at him and emitted a feminine giggle of her own.

His face went pink again.

"Does he know you'll be at school tomorrow?"

"Nope, but I'm going to surprise him," A large and lively smirk plastered itself to Trinity's vaguely blushing face. "so, what do we want to do now?"

"We could go to the arcade." Tucker suggested.

"Not in those short-shorts young lady!" Trinity chastised, wiggling her finger in true Manson fashion. "Let's just doss for a bit."

"Translation please, Sam?" Tuck raised an eyebrow.

"Tucker, when the Brit says 'doss' she means 'hang out' or 'chill'."

"Well why doesn't she just say it like that?" He laughed.

"Oh, calm down, you think it's difficult with one English person speaking slang? Try living in a country full of them for half a year!"

Sam and Tucker had a good laugh about it as they left the Nasty burger. Danny pulled on Trinity's arm. She turned to see a very confused expression staring back at her.

"C'mon Danny, those mates of yours will wonder where we've gone if we don't keep up."

He sternly glowered at her, speaking with angry blue eyes turned emerald.

"Why are you lookin' at me like that?" She narrowed her own green eyes at him suspiciously.

"It's… it's nothing, come on – let's go." Danny faked a smile as best he could.

Trinity shrugged her shoulders and walked ahead.

Something didn't smell right. Sam, who prided herself on a strict ultra-recyclo-vegetarian lifestyle, was suddenly eating from the meat-based menu and dressing like the kind of girl she used to despise. And Danny knew Trinity was behind it.

He wasn't complaining really, Sam had always been gorgeous, a girl he'd die to be with, and now he couldn't even look at her without getting a nosebleed, but his apprehensive mind was filling with ridiculous ideas.

Maybe Trinity had manipulated Sam on behalf of Sam's parents.

Maybe she brainwashed her, or worse; maybe she was being drugged…